Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, NEPTUNE'S STEEDS, by WILLIAM LAWRENCE CHITTENDEN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

NEPTUNE'S STEEDS, by                    
First Line: Hark to the wild nor'easter!
Last Line: Will homeward come again.
Alternate Author Name(s): Chittenden, Larry
Subject(s): Mythology; Storms


Hark to the wild nor'easter!
That long, long booming roar,
When the Storm King breathes his thunder
Along the shuddering shore.
The shivering air re-echoes
The ocean's weird refrain,
For the wild white steeds of Neptune
Are coming home again.

No hand nor voice can check them,
These stern steeds of the sea,
They were not born for bondage,
They are forever free.
With arched crests proudly waving,
Too strong for human rein,
The wild white steeds of Neptune
Are coming home again.

With rolling emerald chariots
They charge the stalwart strand,
They gallop o'er the ledges
And leap along the land;
With deep chests breathing thunder
Across the quivering plain,
The wild white steeds of Neptune
Are coming home again.

Not with the trill of bugles,
But roar of muffled drums
And shrouded sea-weed banners,
That mighty army comes.
The harbor bars are moaning
A wail of death and pain,
For the wild white steeds of Neptune
Are coming home again.

Well may the sailor women
Look out to scan the lee,
And long for absent lovers,
Their lovers on the sea.
Well may the harbored seamen
Neglect the sails and seine,
When the wild white steeds of Neptune
Are coming home again.

How sad their mournful neighing,
That wailing, haunting sound;
It is the song of sorrow,
A dirge for dead men drowned.
Though we must all go seaward,
Though our watchers wait in vain,
The wild white steeds of Neptune
Will homeward come again.





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